WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- December and January were Earth's warmest on record reported scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Wednesday.
The unbelievable amount of snow dumped on Boston might make people think the planet is on the verge of winters out of Game of Thrones, but, in fact, this winter was the warmest on record for the Northern Hemisphere, which houses 90 percent of the Earth's population. The Southern Hemisphere had its fourth warmest summer.
January and February were record-breakers for above the Equator, and February was the second warmest on record. NASA's Goddard Space Center in Maryland dubbed December and January the second warmest on record in a separate study.
The average temperature in California was 47.8 degrees, 5.1 degrees warmer than the 20th century average temperature of 42.7.
The state is protected by a "ridiculously resilient ridge" that allows the jet stream to pass over it and slam the Midwest and East coast with snow, Bill Patzert, a climatologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, told the Los Angeles Times.
The ridge plus the extreme drought plaguing California is causing the warm winter. That's good for those who love the warm California sunshine but anyone wanting to ski in Northern California should make other plans.
